In the past, people have typically obtained their healthcare supplies from units that only dispense, such as tissues dispensed from cardboard boxes. These dispensers do not typically include a disposal unit, thereby necessitating use of the dispenser supplies near a trash receptacle or requiring the user to carry the used, and possibly unsanitary, healthcare products, such as tissues. Also, some users may simply leave the used supplies next to the dispenser resulting in unsanitary, messy and unsightly conditions. To alleviate this problem, others have created dispensers that are attached or incorporated with the dispenser; however, joint units are bulky.
A number of devices have been designed for both dispensing supplies and disposing thereof after use. Most such devices have fixed dispensing and disposal unit volumes, such as described by Neumann in U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,837 and Meyer, Jr. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,612. These devices are bulky and require additional space since they have fixed dispensing and disposal volumes; thereby rendering them less likely to fit in small areas and requiring more space on retailer shelves. Certain other devices share space between the dispensing and disposal sections, such as those described by Horn in U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,928 and Parks in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,545. As tissues are dispensed from a fixed volume in these devices, space is vacated for the storage of the used tissues. In addition to the fixed volume problems mentioned above, this approach is problematic because the volume emptied by the removal of such supplies is not likely equal to the volume required to dispose of the used supplies. Accordingly, used supplies either do not fit into the disposal section, or more likely, additional volume must be allowed for in the design of the device, thereby resulting in a larger device that creates space problems. One device described by McPherson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,302 addresses these concerns by adding a collapsible disposal unit; however, this addresses only the marketing shelf space issue and upon expansion of the fixed volume disposal section the same space issues and problems arise as with the fixed volume dispensers.
As mentioned, healthcare product dispensing technologies, namely tissue dispensing technologies, are fairly well developed; however, existing technologies do not maximize the effective use of such technologies. Further, existing dispensers do not provide convenient and space efficient disposal mechanisms. As a result, significant improvement can still be made in the area of healthcare product dispensing and waste handling and disposal.
It is the primary object of the present invention to enable people to dispense, use and dispose of healthcare products from a single dispensing and disposal device that uses a minimum amount of store shelf space and user space. Another object of the invention is to permit people to take advantage of the convenient and compact dispenser to conveniently and hygienically use healthcare products in environments they may not otherwise use the products, for example, in an automobile, next to a swimming pool, at the beach or in other mobile, outside or non-home environments. Another object of the invention is to make the disposal of used healthcare products easier by including a disposal device which permits easy and convenient disposal of used healthcare products by the person.